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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30017109">Safe</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilacbombs/pseuds/lilacbombs'>lilacbombs</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Lupin III</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Crying, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Relationships, M/M, Oneshot, kind of? man I don't know I wrote this cause I couldn't sleep</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 22:07:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,678</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30017109</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilacbombs/pseuds/lilacbombs</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>With a low rumble, The building the two thieves were standing in began to crumble. Red, with fire, came from the floors below– the support beams cracking like bones, the floor splitting like a mouth to hell. It was when he felt them falling– the floor beginning to sink into the one below– That Jigen chose the closest option.<br/>A safe, old but sturdy was their only chance to survive what came next. The two of them dove in, shutting the door behind them but also making note not to latch it all the way. If they didn't, they'd be locked in, and Jigen thought a death like that may be worse than being crushed by rubble.</p><p>But then again, dying side-by-side with Lupin didn't sound so bad.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jigen Daisuke/Arsène Lupin III</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>62</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Safe</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>With a low rumble, The building the two thieves were standing in began to crumble. Red, with fire, came from the floors below– the support beams cracking like bones, the floor splitting like a mouth to hell. It was when he felt them falling– the floor beginning to sink into the one below– That Jigen chose the closest option.<br/>A safe, old but sturdy was their only chance to survive what came next. The two of them dove in, shutting the door behind them but also making note not to latch it all the way. If they didn't, they'd be locked in, and Jigen thought a death like that may be worse than being crushed by rubble.</p><p>But then again, dying side-by-side with Lupin didn't sound so bad.</p><p>They fell, the world suspended in motion for what felt like a few lifetimes. The landing forced Jigen to latch onto Lupin, shielding the back of his head with his arm. Lupin did the same for him, letting him briefly lean his head into the crook of his shoulder. Jigen yelped in pain as he slammed against his clavicle, Lupin wincing at the bruise that was sure to form.</p><p>It grew hot, then cool. All scored by the sound of pelting rubble. When a much larger piece of debris fell and dented the side on Jigen's right, he and Lupin held onto each other for dear life. They'd been here before– not this scenario, but close like it. Just pray. Not for a random act of God, but for this to ride out, for they didn't care what came so long as they could just live.</p><p>It grew silent. It was just the gentle tapping of broken glass and other ruins at first, but then it slowly turned to nothing– just the sounds of the city outside.<br/>Jigen almost considered making a break for it until they both heard a voice.</p><p>"LUPIN!"</p><p>Pops cried out in anguish, echoing in the now-vacant lot. Even with the sunlight peeking through the crack in the door, he couldn't see the inspector– All he could hear was the scraping of hands through the earth. Searching.</p><p>"Guess we'll be here for a while."<br/>Lupin whispered, face right next to his. They were huddled together, legs entangled and shoulders squarely next to each other. They were locked in a tight embrace, with Jigen's hair messed and laying against Lupin's neck and chin. His hat was in here somewhere– but that could wait till later.</p><p>For now, all they could do was wait.</p><p>"Guess so."</p><p>Jigen heard his partner's heartbeat in his ears, along with his own. Both scored by the shouts of the inspector outside. They grew fainter, Pops gradually widening his search for his beloved rival.<br/>In a situation like this, a ride in an INTERPOL van would be a welcome change. But there was still too much to deal with- and Jigen wasn't sure even a squad car could protect against the mafia's arsenal, nor could they trust them, seeing as it was the police who chased them earlier.</p><p>So they waited. And waited. And every time they thought the inspector had finally given up, they heard footsteps once more. As the two of them sat shoulder-to-shoulder, Jigen turned his attention inward to what he could feel. What was inside their strange little sanctuary.</p><p>He felt a slight sting on the side of his shoulder– then gristle, the sensitive linings of his skin flinching at Lupin's touch. He could feel wetness on his arm, too– no doubt from the blood that clotted there. It was from the shower of bullets they'd dodged earlier. Adrenaline had staved off the pain until now– now, Jigen could only grit his teeth and try to calm himself as the cortisol slowly left him.</p><p>And in the silence, save for whatever Pops was wailing outside– he heard a sniffle. It was the sole one he heard, but it rang out. Not as an echo but as a wave of emotion and sound. He'd tuned into Lupin's feelings for ages now, so it took little more than the sound of a teardrop hitting skin to confirm it. Lupin was crying.</p><p>"Lupin."</p><p>He murmured, feeling for the other's hand in the darkness. He couldn't see anything at first, but as his eyes adjusted the hunched-over shadow of his friend became clear. His face was squinted, lip trembling and grimacing as he tried to keep quiet. When he finally touched the cold (thankfully alive) hand of his partner the silence broke.<br/>Lupin heaved a quick sob in the confines of the safe. As if choking on air, he stayed quiet for a few moments, before starting to weep again, unable to hide.</p><p>Crying wasn't something they did in front of each other. It just wasn't. They were never afraid of judgment from the other, not really– but because they never knew what to say. Unlike this time their tears rarely had an exact reason. It was a dam breaking, an overflow of many things that had transpired for months, and it came at the most random times. Pumping gas, smoking on a hotel balcony, eating in a busy restaurant.<br/>But now Jigen could tell– Lupin was frustrated with the situation, with the running. With his failure.</p><p>"Oh, God." <br/>Lupin wailed and folded into himself, tears streaming down his cheeks.<br/>"How did this happen... How did I fuck up this bad?"</p><p>Jigen said nothing, but gently felt the side of his partner's hand with his pinky. An ask of permission, which Lupin returned with a gentle grasp and squeeze of his partner's hand.</p><p>"You didn't know. It was a setup."<br/>"I should've seen something was wrong," He muttered, wiping his nose on his sleeve. "It was too easy."</p><p>Even if that was true, hindsight wouldn't help either of them now. Jigen didn't feel anything off either when they stormed that hideout in Queens– and his intuition was usually dead on.</p><p>"You always get mixed up in this because of me. I mean, look at us–" He said, voice still dripping with sadness as he gestured towards Jigen's arm. "Look at you."</p><p>"What, this?" Jigen touched the wound lightly with his fingers. "This is nothing."<br/>"Remember when you broke your tailbone?"</p><p>This got a quiet laugh from Lupin.<br/>"Yeah."</p><p>"You tried to sneak into a joint by climbing up to the balcony. You crawled along a tree branch." Jigen played storyteller, walking across his friend's shoulder with his fingers.</p><p>"And you were watching from the ground." Lupin muttered, smiling but still keeping his head in his knees.</p><p>"You fell, and I ran over to catch you, but– " he mimicked the motion, sending his impromptu hand puppet tumbling off of Lupin's arm.</p><p>"I landed on the sidewalk."<br/>"You landed on the brick part of a flower bed."<br/>"Why are you telling me this, man?"</p><p>Jigen wasn't sure. It was mostly just to cheer him up, but even he didn't know where he was going with it.</p><p>"Not sure."<br/>They stayed in quiet for a bit, Lupin's cries now reduced to slight sniffles. Then it came to him.</p><p>"I remember now– Because there's something I never told you about that night."<br/>"What?"</p><p>He wanted to say "<em>I realized I'd been in love with you for years</em>," but he thought it would sound strange. There was nothing romantic about watching your friend bleed from the ass in the backseat as his girlfriend tended to him. But there was something about the smile Lupin gave, as Oldies played softly out the car radio, that set something in stone. Something he knew but would never say out loud.</p><p>"I honestly thought you were a goner."</p><p>"You did not." Lupin chided. He was going to playfully slap Jigen's shoulder, but stopped himself once he remembered the injury that was there.<br/>"No one's ever died from a broken ass, dude."</p><p>"You'd be surprised." Jigen ran his fingers through his partner's hair fondly. "This is you we're talking about. Stranger things have happened."</p><p>"Yeah."</p><p>Lupin returned the touch with a gentle lean on his friend's shoulder. Though "friend" was a misnomer at this point. While trying to move his head in a way that wouldn't disturb his shoulder, Jigen exchanged his offer with his own, snaking his head into the crook of Lupin's shoulder.</p><p>Pops' voice was a distant hum now, but their legs were asleep. Like hitting an alarm clock on a Monday morning, they opted to stay there a few more moments.</p><p>And in that slumber, Jigen felt a soft kiss to the top of his head. A hand running up and down his back. In this space obscured entirely from the world, Jigen thought that he'd never loved anyone more in his entire life. It was a painful feeling, to know that you could care so much, to something that could be ripped away at any moment. To something that might rip away all on it's own accord to chase another woman.<br/>More painful than that was the thought that despite everything, despite all the faults in himself, Lupin loved him back.</p><p>And he wouldn't have it any other way.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Je t'aime, mon cher</em>."</p><p> </p><p>Lupin whispered it in his ear like a confession, even though he'd said it many times before. Jigen buried himself further in his arms, placing a kiss on his lips in the soft light and feeling his chest fill, with a kind of lightness of it's own– Fluttering like dragonflies in the spring.</p><p>And it was in that safe, that was slowly being lit by the sun that Jigen never felt more at home. He might as well have been waking up in bed next to Lupin on a Sunday morning. For every hiding spot was a bed and every hideout a picket-fence house in the suburbs so long as Lupin was there. Goemon, too– he didn't need anything else in the entire world. Not money, not a car, not even smokes and hooch.<br/>Maybe.</p><p>But luckily, Lupin didn't like to go without those either.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I wrote this cause I couldn't sleep. It shouldn't have too many spelling mistakes but like I barely proofread it YEESH</p><p>Based on a scene in part 3 in which Jigen and Lupin are trapped in a safe HAHA GET IT? THE TITLE *passes out face down on the ground*</p><p>Thanks for reading. That bit about Lupin falling out of a window is loosely based on a part in the song "Home" by Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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